GAY
FILM REVIEWS BY MICHAEL D. KLEMM
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GAY
FILM REVIEWS BY MICHAEL D. KLEMM
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Hollywood, Je t'aime Wolfe
Video, Director/Screenplay Starring:
Unrated, 95 minutes |
I
Love L.A.
There's an old saying that goes: there's no place like home. This appears to be the underlying theme of Hollywood, Je t'aime, the debut feature film from writer/director Jason Bushman. Like The Wizard Of Oz, his movie is bookended with a framing story that is filmed in black and white. Sandwiched inbetween is a magical place where the grass is supposed to be greener over the rainbow but a harvest of weeds resides there instead. |
 Hollywood,
Je t'aime
begins in Paris. The opening scenes, filmed in rich grays and in French
with subtitles, evokes an old French New Wave film from the late 50s/early
60s. The film's star even looks as if he could have been the lead in a Truffaut
film; a more chiseled Charles Aznavour in Shoot The Piano Player
perhaps. Eric Debets plays
Jerome Beaunez, a young man who pines over his ex-lover, Gilles (Jonathan
Blanc), who has left him for another man. Jerome decides to spend Christmas
in California and books a flight to Los Angeles. He also dreams of finding
work as an actor. Mimicking Dorothy's arrival in Oz, Jerome steps into a
new world filmed in vibrant color. |
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 But
the reality doesn't live up to his dreams. The Hostel to the Stars, where
he booked lodgings, turns out to be a seedy dive. He scores with a man in
a gay bar but the hostel's irate Asian concierge won't allowed him to bring
his trick upstairs to his single room. A bus ride to the beach takes all
afternoon and, when he arrives, he discovers that the beach is cold in December
and sits huddled in a blanket. |
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 Throughout
his adventures, he is unable to get Gilles out of his mind and imagines
himself talking to his ex-lover whenever he is down - which is most of the
time. Gilles appears in his bathroom, on buses, in a few erotic dream sequences.
Unable to let him go, Jerome repeatedly pulls away from getting intimate
with anyone in California, including both Ross and an extremely hot young
man who trysts with him at the baths. |
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 The
rest of Hollywood, Je t'aime
is a charming fish out of water story in which Jerome discovers that L.A.
is not Oz. His first audition couldn't be more disastrous and later,
when he is lucky enough to land an acting job, this turns out to
be another disappointment because it is only a frozen pizza commercial.
So much for being discovered in an ice cream shoppe. Los Angeles is sunny
and colorful but most of the scenes are shot in its shabbier neighborhoods.
Norma warns Jerome that Hollywood wants their faggots behind the
camera and not in front of it. Examples of prevailing prejudice are worked
into the script. A French neighbor calls Jerome and his ex "dirty faggots."
A customs inspector, while not necessarily homophobic, obviously detests
foreigners and gives Jerome a hard time when he arrives in Los Angeles.
A drag-phobic Ross sees Jerome waiting for a bus and offers him a ride,
and then invents excuses not to take Kaleesha and Norma with them. |
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 To
be honest, not very much happens in Hollywood,
Je t'aime but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Instead
of trotting out the usual cliched stock characters and contrived situations,
this film is more grounded in reality. Not everyone's vacations turn out
like the ones in commercials and it is far more believable that he doesn't
meet the man of his dreams and land the lead in a Hollywood blockbuster
- even if he does, like everyone tells him, look like Adrian Brody.
Even so, I kept waiting for him to get it on with Chad Allen's character
and was surprised, and even a bit annoyed, when it never happened. |
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 On
the plus side, Hollywood, Je t'aime
is competently filmed and nicely acted by all. Director Bushman and his
star worked together once before on a short film entitled Serene Hunter
(included on the DVD collection, S
Is For Sexy). Debets is a likable klutz as Jerome. While not possessing
classic Hollywood good looks, he does resemble Adrian Brody and
has a physique to die for. His deadpan demeanor recalls Buster Keaton. |
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 Chad
Allen plays his stoner part very well. Airington's Norma Desire is suitably
flamboyant in drag but, unlike similar characters in other movies, tones
down the fabulous a notch and refrains from playing the part over-the-top.
He functions as a den mother and confidante to his charges. Kilpatrick's
tragic Kaleesha sadly has the hots for Jerome, who isn't interested. I liked
that her character was African American and transgender while her transition
from male to female wasn't even part of the plot. At one point, she is seen
waking up and her package is still discernible beneath her underwear. |
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More on Jason Busman
and Eric Debets: Chad Allen also appears
in:
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 CLICK THE ABOVE BANNER TO PURCHASE THIS WOLFE VIDEO TITLE |
While
on the beach he does, however, meet Ross (
This
is a slice-of-life that, while not overly flashy, has its considerable
charms. Those who insist on a side of beefcake won't be disappointed;
Jerome often goes the full monty and there is also a hot bathhouse scene.
While a few stretches could use a bit more spark, the film is an amusing
comedy and the time passes quickly. It was certainly a crowd pleaser on
the festival circuit and Hollywood, Je t'aime
should make for a pleasing date movie.